After Death
by EmperorV14
Summary: Aliens and Monsters roam the land. But to Sakura Haruno, they're only the stuff of fiction. But when she reunites with her long lost best friend Ino, she'll discover a world of danger. Where everything is out to get you. The only problem is, Sakura didn't expect to die first.
1. Haruno Sakura I

_What is there after death? Is it paradise? A fiery Hellscape? Or…_

 _Something else entirely…_

* * *

University is pretty tough. A ton of unending work, with little to no time to recuperate and relax. And more often than not, it was too much. Medical School was all that and more. While Sakura didn't regret it, she sometimes wished she had taken her father's suggestion and had decided to go to Waseda University instead of Tokyo Medical.

But Sakura just sucked it up and now, she was only 2 days removed from the end of her high school life and onward to adulthood. Sakura wouldn't say that she looked forward to living…not on her own but without her parents, but she did look forward to meeting new people. New people…yeah.

With a sigh, Sakura expanded a chair and set down next to the other ones. All of her friends would be going to Waseda. Naruto and Hinata. Sakura knew that Naruto was only going to Waseda because Hinata was. She knew for a fact that Naruto wanted to go and play basketball overseas, but he would do anything for his precious girlfriend. Though Sakura had little doubt that they were going to get married.

Then there was Shikamaru, who Sakura knew for a fact could've gone to Harvard or Cambridge of Oxford before he even reached 15 and yet he was only going to the closest university. Sakura forgot which one it was but she knew it was near Nakano. Actually, now that Sakura thought about it, the closest one to him was the University of Tokyo. One of the best, if not the best Universities in the country. Huh. Only Shikamaru would call the 56th ranked university in the world just a "local" one.

Of course, Shikamaru was the smartest person that Sakura knew. If only he acted like it. Skipping and sleeping through class. Sometimes he would skip class, eat his lunch and then sleep during the lunch period or go cloud watching. Most of the time he would sleep during tests, wake up 15 minutes before they end and ace them no problem. Or how he would never study. Not once did Sakura see Shikamaru studying. It irritated Sakura to no end. All those endless hours of studying and reading and research. And still, she couldn't catch up. No matter how hard she tried. Some people are just born gifted.

On the other hand, Naruto…was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. He was really naïve in Sakura's opinion. There just are some people that can't be saved. People that are just pure evil. How anyone could think that a serial murderer or rapist could be rehabilitated were just…stupid was too strong a word. Naïve. That was the word that Sakura would use to describe those kinds of people.

And Hinata? Well, Sakura could safely say that she had some stalkerish tendencies. The only thing stopping Sakura from effectively calling her a Yandere was that she hadn't killed anyone yet. Though Sakura wouldn't be exactly surprised if she had. Especially considering that her father was a very prominent politician with shady business dealings with the Yakuza. So Sakura wouldn't be all that surprised if there was a dead body found in Hinata's backyard.

Sakura was pretty sure that the only reason she was even friends with these people was because all of their parents were friends during their high school days. Naruto and Shikamaru were good people. If not just annoying naïve and lazy. Hinata was fucking crazy. That much Sakura was sure.

Despite being so close to graduation day, Sakura was still at school. They had just finished exams and Sakura volunteered to help set up for the graduation. Only fitting for the valedictorian. Truth be told, Sakura was surprised that Shikamaru hadn't been chosen to be the valedictorian. After all, he was the smartest in the school. Because after all the valedictorian is supposed to be the smartest one right? Oh, how Sakura wanted to punch Naruto's teeth in that day. Perhaps Shikamaru was chosen by her peers, but the teachers took pity on Sakura and made her the valedictorian. Regardless, Sakura wasn't complaining.

After setting up the last chair, Sakura wiped the sweat off her brow. She looked at the time. It was 7:30 now. Huh. Not the latest that Sakura had stayed behind. Well, all of the chairs were set up now and all that was left to do was to rehearse the whole thing. She just hoped that Naruto wouldn't do anything stupid like forgetting his gown. Or bringing a bowl of instant ramen to the ceremony. Doing it during middle school was bad enough.

"Yo Sakura!" Iruka Umino, her math teacher called out to her. He had several cups of bubble tea with him. "Time to go eh? Hey, before you go, take one." He offered her a bubble tea and without hesitation Sakura took the strawberry flavored one.

"Thanks. Just to confirm something Mr. Umino," Sakura began as she took a sip from the bubble tea. As the plastic touched her lips, a shiver went down her spine. "We have to arrive at 11:30 was it? And then after the rehearsal, we can go home right?"

"Yup. And remember Sakura, please call me Iruka now. And remember to visit whenever you can."

"I'll try." Sakura smiled. She spun around. Her bag was propped up on a chair in the back. After swinging it over onto her back, she turned back around to face Iruka. "Goodbye!" As soon as she left the room, the smile fell off of her face.

Remember to visit? Yeah right. There was no chance in hell that Sakura would ever go back to Konoha High School. It was a shithole. An absolute shithole. If Sakura wasn't "friends" with Hinata, the scion of a wealthy family associated with the Yakuza, then she would for sure have been bullied. Well, she was. That was in elementary. Back when she didn't even know Hinata Hyuga existed. Back when Naruto was just the kid who teachers disliked because he kept doing stupid stuff and getting in trouble. Back when Shikamaru would actually get punished for sleeping in class. Back when she had first met Yamanaka Ino.

Ino…That was someone that Sakura hadn't thought of in a long time. The last time they had seen each was…4 years ago? Maybe 3. Sakura wasn't sure. It had really been so long since she had seen Ino. Sometimes Sakura would pass by the Yamanaka flower shop, but Ino was never there. There were times when Sakura wanted to go in and ask if Ino was there, but Sakura never did. Well, there was this one time that Sakura did see Ino, but she was kind of busy at the time and Sakura didn't want to intrude.

The car that her uncle had given to her as a present was across the street and inside a park parking lot. Sakura didn't trust the delinquents to _not_ mess with her car. Even now, the ones that were loitering around the school were eyeing her like a wolf would look at a deer. What most people, mostly girls, would do in Sakura's place would be to pick up the pace and make no eye contact. Instead, Sakura kept her head up and continued to walk at the same speed. All the while staring straight into the eyes of anyone who would look at Sakura like she was a piece of meat.

Sakura eventually reached her shitty old car. It was falling apart at the proverbial seams. Cracked red paint, wheels that always seemed to be flat, blinkers that didn't work, a honk that didn't work, windshield wipers that didn't work. Sakura wouldn't have been surprised if her brakes just stopped working in the middle of the street. Fuck, Sakura wouldn't even be the least bit surprised if the engine just straight up exploded as she started it up.

Getting enough money to buy a car that wasn't a ticking time bomb was one of Sakura's many reasons as to why she wanted to be a doctor. Albeit, it wasn't one of the reasons until she got the car, but whatever.

Whenever someone asked Sakura why it was that she decided to become a doctor, they usually asked because they all thought the same thing. Why would the daughter of one of the most famous seiyuu's in Japan in Haruno Mebuki and the best attorney in Shinjuku, need the money to become a doctor. Truth to be told, she didn't. It was because Sakura didn't want to become one of those people who were famous because their parents were famous. If Sakura was going to be famous, it would be because she was someone who saved lives. And someone who made a difference. Sakura didn't really know when she had decided that being a doctor was her calling card in life, but she was pretty sure that it was when the pinkette met Senju Tsunade. If Sakura recalled correctly, it was her 8th or 9th birthday. Sakura forgot what happened, but whatever did happen, it was probably for the better.

"Great. Fucking great." Sakura muttered as her shitty ass car wouldn't start. After a couple more tries at starting the engine, it started. "Fucking finally." Sakura wasn't sure when she started to swear so much, but she pretty sure it was after Naruto introduced him to that one cousin of his. Tayuya or something or other.

Her childhood home was located where all the other rich fucks lived. The neighborhood of Azabu. Now Sakura lived in Roppongi Hills. If there was anything that Sakura could say about the place, it was that Roppongi Hills was basically another city within Tokyo. Kind of like the City of London with London, but not exactly. And no, Sakura did not live in a mansion or a fancy condo at the top of some tower. No. The scion of the Haruno family lived in apartment 315 in some apartment complex close to Mori Tower. It wasn't the best, but Sakura insisted on living in an apartment. Even though her parents wanted her to stay at their place. And in several weeks Sakura would be moving to a dorm in Tokyo Medical University. If Sakura was even a modicum successful as her parents, then she would definitely have enough money to get a decent apartment in some good neighborhood like Omotesando or Yoyogi.

As Sakura drove slowed to a stop at a red light, her mind wandered right back to Yamanaka Ino. The only person that Sakura would ever say earned the right to be called her best friend. What kind of best friend would Sakura be if she didn't go and at least try to reconnect? The Yamanaka flower shop was in Harajuku and wasn't that far off and it wouldn't be that much of a detour from her apartment. If Sakura remembered correctly, there was a parking lot in the back, but the only way to get there was to drive past the street and go to the back lane. Something about an error with the blueprints and a contract dispute with the construction company. So there wasn't really any easy way to park.

But thankfully, there weren't many cars in the area. But still, parking was a mess. There was one entrance. And it was also the exit. Most of the parking spots were taken, mostly by people who didn't anywhere else to park and weren't even at the flower shop. Instead, they were in the other stores along the street. Most of which were clothing stores. As of expected of the district known as Harajuku. Sakura would be lying if she said that she didn't see students from her school walking down the street.

Somehow, Sakura found a spot to park in. And it was just the right distance from the exit and the entrance to the store. "The perfect balance." She muttered. It was windy and Sakura was glad that she decided to wear her denim jacket today. She had also thought about bringing a raincoat, as it was supposed to rain, but decided not to. It didn't rain. Well, not yet anyways. The whole day was slated to have been a monsoon, but it didn't look like that until now when the sun was hidden behind a curtain of black and gray clouds. Some would say that it's a bad omen. Sakura saw it as nothing more than nature doing what nature does.

Sakura forgot how much purple was in the flower shop. There weren't many things in the shop that _weren't_ purple or close to it. The floor tiles were gleaming purple and the walls were painted a bluish purple color. At the front next to the door were two vases painted different shades of purple and blue. Along the walls were light fixtures tinted a light shade of purple. If Sakura remembered correctly, Ino had often said that she wanted to replace those with actual UV lights. Why Sakura didn't know. Well, other than Ino thought it would look cool. As for the flowers themselves, there were six shelves full of all kinds of plants. Large and small. Exotic and local. All different kinds of colors and shapes. But despite how many plants there were, the shop felt…

Empty.

It looked like no one had been in the shop in a long time and some of the plants were wilting or outright dead. Some of the lights were flickering on and off and one of the vases up front had a large crack running all the way from top to bottom. Sakura wouldn't have been surprised to find the cash register empty too.

The woman at the register wasn't anyone that Sakura knew. Or perhaps it was someone that she knew. Sakura hadn't seen anyone from the Yamanaka family in years. The woman in question had Ino's long blonde hair and green eyes. As Sakura got closer, the woman's head lifted up and flitted over to Sakura. Her green eyes widened in surprise.

"Sakura? Haruno Sakura?"

"Uh…That's me. Right here. Um…I don't mean to rude and insensitive, but…do I know you?" Sakura stood in front of the desk, her arms at the side as she looked away awkwardly. "I mean, you do look familiar, but I can't really remember your name."

"Inori. Yamanaka Inori. Ino's mom. And don't worry. I wouldn't expect you to remember me after all these years. But I don't think I could ever forget you Sakura." Inori chuckled. There were bags under her eyes, which in turn were bloodshot. Upon closer observation, Sakura could see just how disheveled Inori's hair was. It certainly didn't look like Ms. Yamanaka was getting that much sleep. "After all, you were the first and so far the only person she could really call a friend."

"Am I really?" That was surprising to Sakura. And she had known Ino since they were children. It always seemed like Ino had a lot of friends. "Well, that's awfully nice of you. And I can definitely say that Ino is the person that I would ever call my best friend. Well, I don't think I can really call her that anymore. I mean, what kind of best friend am I? I haven't seen Ino in years." Inori's lips quivered and Sakura thought that she would burst out crying right then and there.

"Ah, well, even after all these years, I know that Ino still considers you her best friend. But…Ino hasn't been seen in years."

Sakura's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean Ino hasn't been seen in years? I drove by here a couple days ago and I'm sure that I saw her here!"

Inori smiled sadly and let out a choked sob. "That must've been her cousin. Irimi. Ever since Ino disappeared she's been helping the shop out. But, as you can clearly see, it's not like it even matters. Ever since…Business just hasn't been the same. But I guess that's to be expected. Everything depended on her."

Ino…was gone. "What happened? Wh-when did Ino just disappear?"

"Ino disappeared last year. One day, she told us that she would be coming to visit a friend for a school project. And she just never came home. At first, we assumed that the friend that she went to did something to her. But, they didn't. They saw her off at the Shibuya Metro and then…that's when anything related to Ino just…up and gone. There was no evidence to even come up with a plausible explanation as to what happened to her. She just…disappeared." A shiver ran down Sakura's spine. "That's why you're here right? You wanted to see Ino?"

"Uh…yeah. I did." Inori smiled sadly. Not wanting to leave on an awkward note, Sakura looked around for something she could buy. It was the least that she could do. Sakura grabbed the closest plant that was also the most appealing. Not that hard really, Sakura didn't know jack shit about flowers. "Um…I'll buy this." Inori smiled genuinely for the first time since Sakura entered.

"Thank you. And, if you ever come across Ino, please, please tell us."

"I…I'll try my best." Sakura wanted to say more but didn't want to come across as offensive. "Bye." She left the Flower Shop with a heavy heart. Her best friend. Gone. Just disappeared into the wind like the seeds of a dandelion. The chances of Ino being dead was as high as the chance of Shikamaru acing the entrance exam to some Ivy League University. But, if there was any chance that Ino was still alive, then Sakura would keep hope. But the thought that Ino might be dead…Sakura didn't want to think about it.

The drive to her apartment usually involved a lot of music and radio shows. But this time, it was the news. Perhaps it was because of the off chance that there might be news that there was some info on Ino. But Sakura really doubted it. Ino disappeared over _a year_ ago. There was very little, if any chance of there being news regarding Ino's disappearance, but if there _was_ …Well, there may have been someone who could have information about Ino's disappearance.

There was someone at Konoha High who knew what everyone liked to do. What they liked to eat, what they did in their free time, who they went out with, who they banged during one of Hinata's crazy parties. His name was Aburame Shino. And if he turned out to be a spy in the future, Sakura would not be surprised. The guy knew everything about you. Hell, he even looked the part of a spy. A trench coat over a jacket with sunglasses and the only skin that was visible was his face and hands. He also happened to know a lot of things on the internet. And if there was even the slightest chance that he knew anything, anything about Ino's disappearance…then Sakura would bite the bullet and take it.

Now if only Sakura knew where he lived.

Well, she had seen…ugh…Hinata hanging out with Shino before. Before taking the plunge, Sakura stopped by a vending machine to get a coke. Because of course, Sakura needed the extra dose of caffeine to converse with Hyuga Hinata.

" _Hi, Sakura!"_ The pinkette in question cringed. Both at the high pitched voice and at the fake cheerfulness of the borderline Yandere that was Hinata Hyuga. " _What do you need? You need to talk to Naruto?"_ There was a dangerous edge in Hinata's voice. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"No. I don't. I need to ask you something."

" _Ask away. You can ask me anything."_

"Do you know where Aburame Shino lives? It's kind of important."

Hinata giggled. " _Are you that desperate for a boyfriend that you'd go to him? No offense to him, but really? Well, to answer your question, Shino lives in Shimokitazawa. Kind of fitting for a hipster like him don't you think? Well, if that's all, I'll be going now. Bye."_

"Well, that was actually helpful. Still fucking need more coke. Goddamn, that fucking crazy bitch." Sakura muttered as she chugged the coke and threw it into a recycling bin. Shimokitazawa eh? One of the best neighborhoods in Tokyo and also an old one. If Sakura remembered correctly, Shimokitazawa to Harajuku from Harajuku station was a thirteen-minute drive away. The station was just a couple of streets down, so it would make sense if she could get there in good time to the Aburame household. And then Sakura stopped to think.

Shimokitazawa was commercial and entertainment district. With a ton of independent fashion retailers, café's theaters and all the like. It was also one of the most popular places for young people to live. Sakura doubted that Mr. and Ms. Aburame lived there, but Shino was the only person who could give her even the slightest lead. Well, aside from the police, but she doubted that they knew any more than they did before.

" _..In recent news, some new information has come to light regarding the case of Yamanaka Ino, who disappeared last April."_ Sakura almost came to an immediate stop in the middle of the road but manage to reel herself in. Fortunately, the light turned red. Well, it seems that Sakura wouldn't be needing to go after Shino after all. " _The camera footage within Shibuya Station, which until today had been corrupted, has finally been cleaned up and now it is very clear that something happened, there is no footage of what happened after Ms. Yamanaka disappears into the restroom. The footage, however, does show an unknown person in a dark leather coat with shoulder length hair going after her…"_ Sakura zoned out.

Ino was right there. In front of her.

Sakura only knew one person who wore that purple jacket. It was a letterman jacket with Sakura's and Ino's names sewn onto the back of it. And that blonde hair tied up in that ponytail with that bang covering part of her face…There was no doubting it. This was Ino. There was a parking lot for an outlet store nearby and as soon as Sakura was out of the car, she was off.

If this was Ino…what then? Sakura didn't know. But she did know one thing. She was going to confront Ino. It was raining now. And all that Sakura could hear, was the sound of herself repeating Ino's name in her head. Why did Ino suddenly appear? And why did it happen, right when Sakura was looking for her. This couldn't be just a coincidence. Right? Right? Things like this happened for a reason. This wasn't because of fate, or some jackass god. Right? RIGHT?

"INO!" Sakura felt butterflies flutter around in her stomach as the girl turned around to meet Sakura with wide green eyes. Time stopped. This…This couldn't be…happening. Could it? This girl…It really, really was Ino. There were some people who looked at her like a crazy person as she forced her way through the crowd like an Olympic swimmer in the 100-meter race. Ino stood still like a deer in headlights.

By the time that Sakura had reached Ino, the crowds had cleared as the rainfall intensified. Sakura felt like she was in a movie. The one time she thought about her missing best friend. The one time she decided to try and find her. All within minutes of learning of Ino's missing status. It really felt like Sakura was in a cheesy romance movie. The ones that Hinata insisted taking Naruto on. Sakura came to a stop an arms-length away from Yamanaka Ino.

A smile cracked Ino's wet face. "You haven't changed a bit. Eh, billboard brow?" The fluttering of the butterflies only intensified at those words. "Then again. Neither have I. Wouldn't you agree?" Sakura could only nod dumbly. There was truth in Ino's words. She was just as Sakura remembered her. Yet, at the same time, Ino felt like a stranger. The look in Ino's eyes…It was something that Sakura had only seen in her grandfather, who had survived the horrors of World War 2. The eyes of someone who had seen and experience death. But that wasn't possible. The Ino that Sakura knew couldn't even hurt a fly if she wanted to. But Sakura supposed that people do change. Anything could happen in the course of three years.

"Yeah. I suppose." Sakura chuckled. "You know, if I wasn't so in shock I would slap you right now. I just…I didn't expect to find you here. Especially considering, you know, that you're technically missing."

"Uh…" Ino laughed nervously. Her eyes darting around, hands fidgeting with something in her jacket pocket. Sakura noted the slick and formfitting black gloves and turtleneck that Ino wore. "Yeah. If you want an explanation, I could give it to you. But, I'd have to tell you in private."

"I don't mind. I live by myself anyways and my car is a piece of shit."

Ino laughed. "Well, you don't have to worry about my car breaking down or something like that. I take the metro. Come on. My apartment like, a 20-minute metro ride from here." Sakura had to smile. Despite the haunted look in Ino's eyes, it seemed that the girl was still upbeat and cheerful. Or at least it seemed that way to Sakura. "Anyways, enough about me, how are things going with you? Still want to be a doctor?"

"Yeah. Going to Tokyo Med this spring. How about you? Still planning on building that greenhouse?"

"Nah. I've actually been thinking of pursuing a career in journalism. Thought long and hard and deliberated over my choice for like…maybe 5 minutes and then I said to myself, fuck being a botanist." Sakura and Ino shared a laugh as Harajuku station appeared over the horizon. "Nah, but to serious, I did think about it long and hard. And I just didn't want to do something that doesn't interest me. At least not any more."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I don't really know, but all I knew was that I did not want to spend my time back in that Flower Shop. I know it sounds heartless, but that business isn't going to succeed in the future. Not when people do the actual gardening themselves and when people stop giving each other flowers for dates. When that happens, I want to be able to support my parents, because I know they won't be able to change their minds."

"Is that why you still haven't revealed yourself to your parents?" Sakura asked as the two of them patiently waited for the train to arrive. "Because you don't want to disappoint them or you're afraid of what they'll think?" At Ino's silence and guilty look, Sakura's jaw opened slightly.

"It's…not for any of those reasons." Ino looked very, _very_ guilty. "I just…Needed some time away from them." Sakura could tell that Ino was lying. The Ino that Sakura knew was very close to her parents. Almost to the point where they had more of a best friend relationship as opposed to a parental one. It was mind boggling to Sakura to think that someone with that kind of relationship would suddenly want some time away. And it wasn't as if Yamanaka Inori and Inoichi had driven her away. Or at least Sakura didn't think they did. It certainly didn't seem like the Yamanaka's were that kind of people.

"You know, you've never been a good liar," Sakura told her. Ino's shoulders slumped as she was caught red-handed. "What's the real reason you ran away from home. Because that's what you did. You ran away. Why?"

Ino sighed. "You probably wouldn't believe me." Sakura scoffed. "It's true!"

"Bullshit. I was-I am your best friend. You can tell and I'll try to believe you." Ino looked around before sighing once more and relenting.

"Fine. But only after we get to my place. I can't tell you here. Way too crowded. Too many people." Ino looked around like everyone that wasn't Sakura was going to shoot her in the head. Sakura was baffled. What happened in the past year that would lead Ino into becoming like this?

Ino's apartment was somewhere in Shiodome. Which boggled Sakura's mind. Next to Ginza, Shiodome was atop some of the most expensive property in the world. How Ino ever managed to afford an apartment here, at her age, and with salary or whatever, was mind melting. But Sakura wasn't going to question it.

Ino's apartment was near the top floor of some unfathomably fancy and modern skyscraper. Though with the lightning quick elevator, it felt like it was only twenty floors as opposed to the sixty or seventy that Ino had mentioned it being. The lobby downstairs was jaw dropping and Sakura was sure that she saw several members of AKB48 mingling amongst each other by the indoor fountain. Before taking the elevator, Ino sauntered over to a café by a giant piece of modern art and got two cups of coffee. The elevator floor was made of red velvet and the walls were decorated with golden branches with some silver leaves mixed in. All of it screamed, rich and beyond and anything that Sakura would ever be capable of making.

"Close your mouth." Ino chuckled, bringing her cup to her lips. "You'll get flies if you keep it open that long. Impressed?"

"More than impressed," Sakura admitted as Ino led her down a hallway. "I'm actually speechless." The floors were covered with velvet carpeting and in between every apartment door was a vase with flowers that looked like they belonged in the Imperial Palace or something. The walls were lit up with golden light fixtures. Ino stopped by a door with a golden 420 on it. Sakura shot Ino a look. "What? 420! Don't you get it?"

"Oh, I get it. Just not funny."

"Whatever. My sense of humor is just more high class than yours. As evident of my living space and my posh accent." Ino spread her arms out as she led Sakura into her apartment. It was…not what Sakura expected really. It was minimal, with only the bare necessities and some of other things. But they were of the highest quality. Satin bed sheets on Ino's queen sized bed. Silk curtains hid the balcony from view. There was a wolf skin rug at the foot of Ino's bed. The T.V was mounted to a wall and looked like on those 8K that Sakura had only ever seen during Sony Conventions and on T.V. Along the walls were top of the line oak dressers and cabinets. In the kitchen, Sakura could see a chandelier with rainbow colored lights hanging down the center. To the right of the doorway was a computer set up. The ones that Sakura had only seen from posts online. With lights and two screens and a fancy gaming chair. Propped up against the PC were a pair of headphones. "Well, what do you think?"

"Ah…Um…I only have one question."

Ino smiled smugly. "Go on."

"How in the hell did you afford this? As a matter of fact, how do you, a student without a job that I know of, pay the rent for this? It must cost hundreds of thousands of yen!" Ino shrugged.

"A friend of mine got it for me and pays for it until I can find a steady enough job that I can start paying for the rent on my own. Now come on in! Make yourself at home. But watch vase. Apparently, that cost three hundred thousand yen. And please be careful with the glass." Ino pointed to a glass of soda atop her oak standing desk. "That cost like 50 000 yen. But aside from that, treat this place like it's your own home. Now wait here and watch some videos or something while I prepare some snacks for us. Do you want caviar?"

"Uh…"

"Just kidding! I don't have caviar. Nachos sound good to you?" Sakura nodded. "Great! Got all kinds nachos! Original, extra spicy, extra cheesy. Does that sound good to you? Extra cheesy?"

"It's fine. I'm not here to eat, though. If you remember." Ino hesitated but continued on her way to the kitchen. She reached into her sleek, mahogany cabinets and grabbed a smooth porcelain bowl and poured a bowl full of chips. "Can you tell me why you've hidden and pretended that you've disappeared? Why you want people to believe that you're basically dead in all reality?"

"Turn on the T.V."

"No. Not until-"

"Turn it on and go to channel 4. Once you do, then you'll get your answer. Just trust me. Okay? Can you do that Sakura?" The girl in question groaned, but nonetheless reached over and grabbed the remote lodged between her PC and the monitor.

"… _A warning to all our viewers."_ The news anchor said. Her face was pale and in the box next to her…was a picture of Ino. " _What you are about to see is extremely graphic and is not recommended for any viewer under the age of twelve."_

It seemed like a continuation of the corrupted footage from Shibuya station. The footage was grainy, but Sakura could still make out Ino amongst the ocean of people. It wasn't that hard really. Ino's blonde hair stuck out like a bar of gold amongst stacks of silver. Ino ran out of the washroom and began to run. As she disappeared from view the camera's switched to a view of the parking lot. Someone was following her. It was a man in a leather coat with longish hair. His face, however, was hidden by a bandana and a pair of shades.

Sakura's eyes widened as the man pulled out a gun and shot Ino right where her spine should've been. And it played exactly like what Sakura imagined getting shot would feel like. There was a spray of blood as the bullet penetrated Ino's body. Her best friend fell to the ground almost immediately as she lost her balance. But her shooter wasn't done as he continued to fire until there was no longer any more bullets. It seemed that the gun was silenced because Sakura didn't see anyone reacting to the gunshots.

As Ino lay dying, the man grabbed her by the legs and threw her into the backseat of a car. He then smashed the car window with his elbow and hotwired the car. Sakura counted 45 seconds. It took Ino's assailant that long and yet no had come still. At this point, the image had gotten so grainy and fuzzy and it was cutting to black every few seconds.

Ino slid in next to her on the couch. "That was when I blacked out. I think I died right then and there. Now, you might be asking, how am I right here then? In front you? Eating nachos slowly when in reality I should be dead. Deader than dead. Six fucking feet under." A smile appeared on Ino's face. "That day, I was chosen."

Sakura took a step back as Ino's left arm slowly began to disappear. Kind of like a 3D printer except in reverse. Without realizing what was happening, Sakura had opened the door to the balcony. "What the fuck! What the fuck!" Ino approached her. Her head slowly disappearing. The railing of the balcony struck the small of Sakura's back.

This…was not what Sakura expected. What she had expected would happen was that Ino was just tired of the ways things were and decided to run away under the cover that someone had kidnapped her. She did expect to see her own best friend living in a lavish apartment wildly beyond anything Sakura would've ever expected. But this?

It's often that you see your best friend get shot to death and get kidnapped. Well, actually _that NEVER FUCKING HAPPENS!_ It's also not often that you see them sitting right next to you while watching herself get riddled with nine-millimeter rounds. It's also not often that your best friend's body parts start to disappear! All the while doing so with a smile on her face.

Ino laughed. "Come on! You should see the look on your face right no!" Ino's eyes widened as Sakura tipped over. "Shit! Hold on!" She reached her hand out, forgetting the fact that it was slowly disappearing. Meanwhile, Sakura's center of gravity pulled her down and off of the skyscraper. "Sakura!"

The falling pinkette reached out for the railings. However, her hands slipped from the wet and slippery marble railing. With no other option, Sakura reached out for Ino's stump of an arm. Sakura let out a cry of panic as her hand passed through Ino's. The smile on Ino's face disappeared and was replaced with a look of panic.

"Shit! Fuck! Fuck!" Ino cried out. Sakura had fallen too far to reach with normal means. The pinkette felt tears appear in the corner of her eyes. Was this how her life was going to end? Falling to her death after her best friend revealed that she had superpowers or some shit like that?

Without any warning, Ino leaped. Only the bottom half of her face, most of her torso and her thighs were remaining. And then, Ino fully disappeared. Did Ino not have full control over her own abilities that she would just disappear like that? Sakura was dead. There was no way she going to survive this. All that would be left of Sakura was going to be paste. Bloody, mush and paste on the second most expensive land in the city of Tokyo.

Anticipating her death, Sakura closed her eyes. And she got…

Nothing.

Well, nothing except the feeling of hitting the ground. But it wasn't the feelings of hitting the ground at terminal velocity. It was more like the feeling of rolling over in your sleep and falling to the ground. That was the feeling that Sakura got. But, she was afraid to open her eyes still.

"Sakura? Fuck." Ino? Ino!? Immediately Sakura opened her eyes and was greeted with the face of her best friend. But, she looked a little different. She was no longer wearing her jacket and was instead wearing a black full body suit with what Sakura thought looked like a retractable headpiece. Numerous armored plates covered Ino's body. Strapped to her back were two swords. One of them looked like a Katana.

"Ino? Where…" Sakura trailed off as Ino helped her up. She looked around. Now she was inside what appeared to be a gymnasium of some sort. But it was a little too small to belong to any school or University or was public. It seemed more to Sakura that it was part of a privately owned home. Sakura looked out of the windows that were placed near the ceiling. The moon was out. Well, it had already been out by the time that her death occurred. Or what was supposed to be her death. Not that Sakura was complaining "Where are we?"

"Daikanyama." A male voice interjected. And it was then that Sakura became aware that she and Ino weren't the only ones in the gym. In fact, Sakura could see at least 20 to a quarter of a hundred people in the gym with her. Most of them were elderly and some of them looked like they were Yakuza. Others were dressed in the black suits associated with the sea of business on Shinagawa Station every morning.

The voice in question belonged to a guy standing close to an unbelievably bright ball in the center of the gym. He was dressed in the same black gear as Ino. Strapped to his waist were two Uchigatana's and across his back was a Nodachi. Having a Nodachi was illegal as far Sakura knew and unless this was some sort of ceremony, Sakura doubted the guy actually got the sword legally. Strapped to his side was a holster with some sort of gun. It wasn't any kind of handgun that Sakura had ever seen on T.V or during the movies. But then again Sakura wasn't exactly what you could call a weapons buff. A shiver coursed through Sakura's body as the man looked at her with his cold, obsidian eyes.

"Stop staring at her like that Sasuke," Ino demanded of him. Sasuke scoffed and walked away. "Sorry about him. He's kind of a dick. A rich one. A handsome one. But a dick."

"I bet you dream about his dick all the time." Another and more youthful voice chimed in. Sakura's head swiveled to look and came face to face with a middle schooler. He too wore the black armored jumpsuit and had a katana strapped to his side. He had spiky brown hair and had a long blue scarf wrapped around his neck several times. He snickered at the enraged look that appeared on Ino's face. "Who's this lady? A friend of yours? Heh. Looks like she's gonna be the first one to die today."

"Fuck off Konohamaru." The brat slinked off to a corner all the while sneering at the two of them.

"Ino was that…"

"Yep. Those guys? That was Uchiha Sasuke and Sarutobi Konohamaru." Sakura's eyes widened in realization. Ino laughed. "Yep. Sasuke gave me the money to rent out that apartment. Mostly because I saved his life. Not that he'll admit that he needed saving in the first place. Guy pride and all."

"But both of them are supposed to be dead."

A smile spread on Ino's face. "Yeah. And so am I. Right? Yet here we are. Standing in front of you." The glowing orb in the center of the gymnasium began to glow a dim red. Everyone's eyes snapped towards it. "Heh. Guess it's about to start. Thirty people. That should be more than enough." Ino muttered. "Sakura. Do you want to live?"

"What? Of course, I do!"

"Then pay attention to Yami. She'll tell you everything that I can't explain to you. Not because I can't. But because I'm terrible at explaining and we'd be here all night if I did try to explain all of it to you." Ino muttered as the glowing ball expanded. Before Sakura could erupt into a panic like everyone else as a crimson light went over her body, Ino put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. It'll be alright. Yami's only scanning your body so that the armor he gets for you fits."

Finally, the crimson light dimmed and Sakura felt something cold begin seeping up her body. She looked down. The same black jumpsuit that Ino had on had materialized onto Sakura and was slowly covering her body.

Yami spoke.

" _Your pathetic and pitiful excuses for lives have ended."_ Yami had the voice of a woman. A woman with no emotions, and no tact. Many of the other newcomers to whatever this was, began to rant and rave at the orb of light. Sakura listened intently " _And now, whatever shall to it, is in my proverbial hands. Until I say so, you shall be sent into the halls of demons, aliens and all the likes."_

Many people scoffed while others looked towards Ino and others armed with weapons. Everyone must've been thinking the same thing as Sakura. Aliens? Demons? Her head was spinning. None of this could've been true. None of this should've been possible. Reviving people from the dead, a talking ball of light. Her best friend looking like some sort of assassin or a superhero that an edgy teenager thought was cool.

" _Your mission today is to eliminate this pack of Hellcats."_ The orb projected a picture of a giant, demonic cat of some sort. With long, razor sharp fangs. Their eyes were a blazing red. Some of the people looked at it and laughed. The kid from before, Konohamaru stood up and walked over to Sasuke. The two of them were too far away for Ino to hear what they were saying. Sasuke's cold gaze washed over Sakura as he looked at Ino and her from over his shoulder. " _Once they have all been eliminated, you will be sent back here. Only then will you be allowed to return home. But do not think that this will be the end. You will return once more when I require it. The transfer will start now."_

Weapons of all kind appeared on the gym floor in flashes of light. Everyone that wasn't Sasuke, Ino or Konohamaru immediately rushed forward for the best weapons. Or what they thought were the best weapons. "Here. Wait. I'll get you the best one." Ino reassured her. "I promise."

Sakura reached out for Ino as her best friend ran towards the center. "Listen girl." It was Sasuke. He stood behind her. "If you want to live, stick either with me or Ino. Going with anyone else will get you killed."

"Like everyone else?"

"Look at these people." Sasuke spread his arm out and beckoned Sakura to look out at the masses clamoring for the best weapon. "Businessmen, high schoolers, Yakuza that really weren't all that intimidating, and the elderly. Do you really think that any of these people are going to be able to defend themselves? I highly doubt it. Let them die. They'll only be a detriment to your own survival. That's just how things go."

"So you won't even try to save them? Are you just going to them let die? Are they nothing than cannon fodder for you? For you to observe and analyze the enemy?" Sakura asked, her fists balling up.

"Yes. Exactly. I won't cut it any other way. That's the only way to survive."

"You're the worst kind of person." Sakura snarled at him. "But I'll listen to you. Only for Ino. If you're in any danger, then I'll adopt your philosophy."

"Hn. I don't expect anything more."

"Yo!" Ino called out as she came to a stop in front of Sakura. "I come bearing gifts! Take this." Sakura let out a grunt as Ino dropped a giant gun in her hands. The barrel was large and cylindrical and the body of the gun sleek and modern in the design. Everything about it was futuristic. Honestly, Sakura felt a little intimidated. Sakura looked up as someone let out a cry of alarm. Someone had just disappeared in a flash of light. "Alright. The transfer's happening. The moment we arrive in whatever location we'll be sent to, I want you to follow me. Alright? Let's get started." Ino's face was suddenly covered by a helmet with a glinting black visor.

Sakura gulped. "I'm counting on you Ino."

"Don't worry. You can count on me. I won't let you down." A flash of red light engulfed Sakura's vision. When the light faded she was greeted with…a Gundam. A white one at that. Sakura had seen this exact one before. "Hey, DiverCity."

"Yeah," Sakura replied. "Odaiba." The pinkette was too caught up in the sight of the Gundam to see the pair of glowing red eyes peering at her through an approaching mist.

* * *

 **Most of this is heavily based on the great Manga Gantz. In fact, it actually started out as a crossover. But I had my own ideas and decided to go in a different direction than that of Gantz.**


	2. Yamanaka Ino I

**YAMANAKA INO I**

* * *

It's not every day that you die. It's not every day that you are the cause of someone's death. All Ino wanted to do was make Sakura wet herself. Not that she already wasn't wet due to the rain, but that was all she wanted to do. She didn't want Sakura to fall from her balcony and to her death. Really, Ino didn't. Maybe Sakura did see it as that. As nothing more than an accident. One that should never have happened.

And the one thing that Ino was hoping to avoid, happened. All because of Ino's stupidity. Now her best friend was trapped in the worst possible thing ever along with herself. And if Sakura died, it would be nothing but Ino's fault. It was Ino's responsibility to keep Sakura alive now that she was one of them. It still felt weird to say that.

For more than a year, it had only been herself, Sasuke and the stupid brat Konohamaru. Ino knew that no else aside from them would survive. Every time that Ino opened her eyes to the gymnasium in Daikanyama, she expected everyone to die. Well, to die a second time. They were already technically all dead. But Ino had no intentions of dying a second time. No way in hell was she going to die a second time.

Yami had managed to explain what the hell they were supposed to do well enough, but Ino knew that Sakura would still have questions. And she sure as hell knew that Sasuke would just blow it off and knowing Konohamaru, the brat would just hit on Sakura the whole goddamn time. Yes, they were annoying, but their usefulness far outweighed whatever annoyance Ino felt whenever one or the other opened their stupid mouths.

So as Ino and Sakura walked around the abandoned DiverCity Tokyo Plaza, she did her best to inform Sakura on her new and important job…well it _was_ important, but Ino wouldn't say that it was a job. More like a matter of life and death, which Ino supposed also applied to some jobs, but this more so than something like being a soldier.

"So…" Sakura began. "Can you tell me how all of this began?"

"Not really."

"WHAT!? You're joking."

Ino chuckled. "I'm serious. Sasuke's been doing this for so goddamn long and he doesn't even have a clue. All we have is speculation. But we all agree that thing's aren't as they seen. These…Aliens and monsters. We have to be doing all of this for a reason. Sasuke seems to think that it's to prepare us for some invasion. Alien, demonic or maybe even both. I don't know."

"That's sounds like a load of bull."

"What you still don't believe me? Your best friend? The great and wonderful Yamanaka Ino?" Sakura shot her a distrustful look. Ino sighed. "Look, I know that you probably don't trust me all that much right now. Especially considering that I kind of-well I _did_ get you killed. Unintentionally. But-'"

"I don't blame you. It's just that you should've known better." Sakura replied, running a hand through her pink hair. The armour that she had wasn't upgraded like Ino's was and she wasn't really sure if Sakura would be able to fire the Zephyr Gun without the recoil breaking her shoulders. "I just…I just need to know what the hell is going on."

"Relax. Everything will be fine. So long as you listen to and follow me. And Sasuke as well." Ino grumbled. While she was grateful that Sasuke had given her that apartment, he could've been nicer about it instead of just tossing the key in her face and saying that he would handle all the finances. Hell, he could've just been nicer in general. But, Ino did suppose that was part of his charm. After all, nice guys finish last. Right?

"What about the kid?"

Ino wrinkled her nose at the mention of that brat. "Konohamaru? Yeah, just don't. He thinks he's all that and acts like the leader of the group. He isn't. But, he is good. Though he's more likely to use you as a meat shield rather than actually cooperate with you. So be wary of that."

"So it really is just the three of you?" Ino nodded her head. "Must've have been rough." Again Ino shook her head.

"Not really. All I had to do was listen to Sasuke. I mean that dude's been doing this thing for a long fucking time. If there's anyone that can survive all by himself it's Sasuke." The dude was a veteran when Yami first summoned Ino almost one year ago. Taught her everything she needed in order to survive. And while she didn't like Sasuke one bit, Ino was grateful to him for everything he had done for her, even if he didn't do it out of the goodness of his heart either.

"Alright." A moment of silence washed over the two of them. Sakura observed the large Zephyr Gun in her hand whilst Ino scanned the area. Ino wouldn't have been surprised if most of the new people, if not all of them, were already dead. That's how it played most of the time. Everyone is in a panic to save themselves and never think clearly. If there was anything that Ino had learned on her lonesome, it was that you were better off waiting till the pack had thinned. Use them as bait. It was a despicable strategy, but it worked.

Ino reached up to her visor and tapped the side of it. For a second the black tint flashed red before returning to its original color. Her view then changed to that of a thermal one. _Hm…A lot of heat is concentrating over there. Must be all those poor saps. Ugh. If only they didn't rush out there like a bunch of morons._ She knew that it wasn't really their fault that they were acting this way and this was just their instincts kicking in.

There was one time where she had asked Sasuke to take charge to save more lives. And it was then that Ino realized that Sasuke was right. No one listened to him. After all, he was just a teenager, right? What the hell would he know? Nothing. So instead, let's all move together as a group, yelling and screaming and crying and attraction all sorts of attention.

To her left, she saw Sasuke's heat signature. He was alone and slinking around by his lonesome like he usually did. Ino wouldn't have been all that surprised if Sasuke somehow managed to get an invisibility upgrade for his suit or something and was hiding it from everyone like he was hiding right now.

Prowling around far ahead was Konohamaru. He was the only person in the area that should've had a heat signature that small. The brat was alone. Looking for whatever it was they were supposed to hunt. Hellcats or something like that.

Most of what they had to hunt were aliens. With the occasional demon or monster, and the local vampire mixed in as well. There were also the occasional humans dabbling in things that they had absolutely no business with. Kind of like herself. Except she had permission from a giant, glowing, sentient orb of light that could talk and probably got off on them dying. Ino couldn't remember if she dealt with Hellcats before, but she knew for a fact that she had to have fought and killed some sort of giant monster/alien feline at least once.

"Hey, what did you just do right now?" Sakura asked, leaning against a wall, wiping a bead of sweat off of her forehead. "Your visor like…glowed or some shit."

"Oh that? Thermal imaging upgrade. Yami allows you to upgrade your suit after every mission." Ino replied. "Just got this upgrade from the last mission. Anyways, come on, let's go and find Sasuke. If shit starts to go down, Sasuke's the one you want to be around." Already some of the heat signatures began to disappear. And fast. Ino wasn't afraid…it was just that there was a chance that Sakura would get in the way.

"Sure. Yeah. I'd rather not have to go and fight aliens already." Sakura muttered, getting up off of her knees. Ino's visor flickered and retracted off to the sides. "Nice."

"Thank you." Ino said as she looked around. She had already drawn her katana and was just waiting for something to pop up. The thermal imaging vision had a tendency to not work when Ino needed it the most or to "mysteriously" malfunction. Tch. Maybe the stupid brat had something to do with this. It wouldn't have been the first time. "Sakura. Look, I know that you aren't in any condition, nor do you have any experience in fighting, but I'm a little blind here and I need you to alert me of even the slightest sign that something is there and is going to eat your face off."

"Aren't you exaggerating a little bit?"

Ino shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. But I am serious about this. My thermal imaging isn't showing fucking jack. Either these fucking Cats are Predators or they have no fucking body heat. Either prospect isn't good." Sakura gulped and clutched the Zephyr tighter. "And if we do indeed encounter something, don't panic. Just…try and hide and I'll deal with things as best as I can."

Sakura paled. "As best, you can!?"

"Hey, I never said that I survived with skill! I survived because of sheer, dumb fucking luck alright?" Ino rebutted. "It isn't my fault that Lord Luck has a boner for me all the time." Sakura raised an eyebrow,

"Lord Luck?"

"I'm not a lesbian Sakura. It can't be Lady Luck."

Her cherry haired best friend rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I can't remember, but were you always this weird? Or am I just now noticing how weird you are." Ino shrugged.

"I don't a fucking clue how you didn't notice how weird I am girl." Ino replied, swinging her katana around. She adjusted her and flipped her katana into a reverse grip. By no means was Ino good with a sword. Not even close. But she was serviceable. Sasuke had made sure of that at least. Still, Ino would have much preferred one of the Oberon Guns than a katana. Sadly though, the chance of Yami spawning one has less than twenty-five percent. Of course, Ino could also just go to Sasuke and ask for one. That hoarding fuck. Or maybe when Konohamaru died. That kid always kept one on his person at all times.

As Ino once again sheathed and unsheathed her katana, there was an unfamiliar noise farther down the hallway. Sakura stiffened but nonetheless continued to follow Ino. The blonde put a finger to her lips and drew her katana. She had considered naming it, according to the rules of being a badass of course, but forgot to do it every time as the thought would just slip from her mind. Ino was sure that an egotist like Sasuke or someone with delusions of grandeur like Konohamaru would've named their swords. Probably something cheesy and cliché like Masamune or Murasame.

The sound began to get closer and closer. Sakura began to fidget around, her skin draining of color, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Her grip on the Zephyr Gun growing tighter with every second. "Do you hear that too?"

"Yeah." Ino replied. The sound got closer and closer. A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway. "Sounds like liquid dripping to the floor. Whenever you hear that sound during a mission, always assume that it's blood." If it was even possible, Sakura got even paler. Despite the situation, Ino laughed.

"Don't laugh!"

"Sorry. I just couldn't help it." Ino laughed more as Sakura pouted and puffed her cheeks. "Hey, if you do that, it'll only make me laugh harder."

"Well stop laughing and then I'll stop pouting." Sakura shot back. Something fleshy fell to the ground abruptly. Sakura let out a squeak. "What the fuck was that!?"

"Calm down. Probably just a body part. Nothing too serious and nothing you won't get used to after a few missions." Ino reassured, twirling the katana around. Soon the figure stepped into view. "Woah."

It was one of the guys from earlier. A police officer if Ino remembered correctly. And boy was he fucked. His entire left arm looked like it had been dissolved by acid and his everything from his right elbow down had fallen to the ground. Part of his shoulder was torn out and one of his legs looked like they had been rotated seven hundred and twenty degrees. Or three-sixty twice. All over his body were shards from one of the Mortis Guns that Yami had spawned. He took one look at Ino and Sakura.

"R-run."

And then his throat exploded.

Sakura screamed and Ino went right to work. Standing behind the officer was what Ino presumed was a Hellcat. It was disgusting, that was what it was. A mockery of a tiger. Gnarled, tree like limbs with glowing scarlet veins protruded from a grotesque and twisted body with a gigantic eye on the side. The two eyes on what Ino assumed was the face, were misaligned and way too close to one another.

Before it could charge at the two of them, Ino thrust her katana into its chest. She grimaced at the murky, black and very viscous blood that the beast excreted. It dove at her. Ino sidestepped and swung upwards, cutting off one of its limbs. The Hellcat completely missed its next lunge as Ino ducked.

"Ah!" Sakura yelped as she fell on her ass. Eyes wide with fear. The monster cat turned its gaze to her. Ino quickly jumped atop its back and impaled its neck into the ground. "I-Ino! What should I do!?"

"Back off!" Ino said through gritted teeth as the cat began to force its way up. "I won't be able to hold this thing off for long!" With a gulp, Sakura backed off and hid behind a large planter box. "Now to deal with you! Fucking pussy ass…pussy!" Ino yelped as the Hellcat bucked her off of its back.

"GRAAHH!" It roared at her. With a sneer, Ino put a hand to the bastard sword on her back. Her katana was stuck in the Hellcat's neck. To think that only one of them had been able to cause her this much trouble already. Just as the monster dove at her, Ino drew her sword and slashed through its neck, grabbed her katana and sliced the torso in two.

"Hah…Hah…Fuck. That was way harder than it had any right to be." Ino muttered before turning to the cowering Sakura. "Yo! Come on! Cost is clear. Well, for now. Keep an eye out for those cats. If they could be called that." With a grunt, Ino kicked the body to the side.

Farther down the hallway from whence the officer and the Hellcat came from was the sight of a bloodbath. Sakura turned a smidge green at the sight of someone's intestines splattered all over a window. Blocking the way were several corpses. All of them were covered in a slimy, viscous black substance that was slowly eating away at their already burned flesh. A head was being inside out by something even more disgusting than maggots. Whatever they were, Ino didn't want to know.

A chill ran down her spine as they came upon a family of three huddled up. All of them lying dead in a pool of their own blood, feces and vomit. The father shielding the mother. But from what? There weren't any more Hellcat corpses. Just the one that Ino had killed. It wasn't all that hard to believe that none of them would have been able to take even just one down. But…multiple of them were police officers and Yakuza. They must've known how to at least fire a gun! Unless they were taken by surprise.

"Huh," Ino muttered to herself. "I've only counted like ten people. Where's everyone…else…" Several pairs of glowing red eyes peered at the two of them farther down the hallway. Sakura bumped into Ino's back.

"Oof! The hell? Why are you block…ing the way?" Sakura's voice quivered as three more Hellcats came out of the darkness. All of them covered in blood. Behind them was an even bloodier mess. One of the Hellcat's held a spine with the head still attached in its mouth. "Ugh…Ino…"

"Activate your suit's distress signal and find Sasuke. All you gotta do is tap the main chest piece to turn it on. As long as the signal is on, any of the hunters in the area should be able to find you. Heck, if Konohamaru comes, don't complain. At least he can do as well as I can." Ino said in a voice that she hadn't her heard herself use in years. "I'll find you once I'm done here."

"Alright." Sakura nodded reluctantly. "But…can you try to come back alive? I don't think I can survive Uchiha-san and Sarutobi-san all by my lonesome."

"Heh." Ino grinned as the Hellcats growled at her in unison. "Who do you think you're talking to here? Now go. Before you get caught in the crossfire." Sakura left, albeit reluctantly. All the while, the area around the base of her neck was tingling intensely as Sakura's suit began to emit waves that only their suits could detect.

Ino twirled around her bastard sword and swung it upwards as one of the Hellcats dove at her. Its body producing a loud screeching noise as it flew through the air. Her bastard sword cut its front limbs off completely. The head caved in as Ino's foot drove through its skull. The other two circled around her. Thrusting her katana at the larger of the two, Ino rolled forward. The smaller of the two lunged at her and got a bastard sword in its mouth for his troubles.

Backing away slightly, Ino clutched her two swords tightly. Both remaining Hellcats glowered at her and bared their teeth. In response, Ino grinned at them toothily. The larger one came at her feet while the smaller one flew through the air towards her torso. Ino sidestepped and split the smaller one horizontally.

The remaining Hellcat missed and embedded its large ass head into the hallway wall. Not wasting any time, Ino threw her bastard sword at it, pinning the head to the wall. Behind her, she could hear the legless Hellcat crawling towards her, pieces of its head falling to the floor.

"Sorry little guy," Ino muttered. She flicked the blood of her katana and drove it right between the Hellcat's eyes. "Huh…The hell is…that?" There was a very, _very_ loud and deep growl emanating through the seemingly empty hallways. Ino's eyes quickly darted around looking for the source.

"Come on you fucking pussy!" Ino hollered. "Show yourself. Don't make me go over there and fuck you up! Because I will do it!" She walked over and picked up her bastard sword. Before leaving to find the source of the disturbance, Ino decapitated the large Hellcat just to make sure that it was really dead after all.

She came upon more of the other hunters. Most of them looked like they had been devoured by only one Hellcat. A giant one. Bigger than the other three. For all Ino knew, it could have been one really small, yet determined Hellcat that refused to give up and the others just decided to leave it alone because they felt sad or something. Sometimes even Ino herself didn't know what the fuck was running through her mind.

With black blood splattered all over her face, Ino got closer and closer to the sound. And the closer she got the more worried she got. Because now it didn't sound like just one growl. It sounded like dozens. All at once. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead and Ino was half tempted to wipe it off.

Far ahead was a translucent window with black blood splattered all over it on the other side. That could not have been a good sign. Like at all. "Alright Ino. Calm down. Calm down. You've been through worse than a couple of overgrown cats." Ino muttered to herself as she reached the window.

Even before her hand touched it, she could feel the vibrations coming off of the glass. With a gulp, Ino slid down the hallway to the entrance into the room with the bloody window. As she rounded the corner, Ino froze.

It was a storage room. A bunch of miscellaneous objects and a fuck ton of boxes. But the thing that caught Ino's attention was the absolutely _monstrous_ Hellcat curled up near the back wall. Suckling from her teats were several dozen Hellcats, all smaller than the smallest one she had killed so far. But the mother cat had to have been like twenty times larger. Its ears just barely brushed up against the top of the ceiling and it was fucking sitting down.

Slowly, the large feline monster opened its onyx eyes and gazed at the frozen Ino. Within seconds, all of her babies had stopped suckling and her growling at Ino like the little shits that they were. With every slight twitch of the muscle, the baby Hellcats got closer and closer. Ino slowly and carefully back out of the room. One wrong step and it would all be over.

And then Ino slipped on a bloody puddle.

Immediately, several Hell…well, they weren't cats…so Hellkittens Ino decided were already upon her. Quickly thinking, Ino one in half whilst rolling away from the others. The mother and several of its siblings mewled in anguish. Ino clutched her katana and bastard sword and crossed them together and begun to spin them around like rotor blades.

Several overeager kittens jumped in her way and were torn to shreds. Using the cover of the ribbons of flesh, Ino retreated from her current predicament. There were way too many of them for her to eliminate all at once. And if there was even the slightest chance that they could surround and overwhelm her, Ino would be screwed. And not in a good way either.

She soon reached the bloody hallway where she had slain the three adult Hellcats. Though now that Ino came across that giant monster of a mother, she wasn't sure if the three she killed were adults or not. Regardless, Ino wanted to get into as open an area as possible. Though a bloody, body filled hallway wasn't the first thing her mind would associate with openness. But, if Ino remembered correctly, if she kept going down the hallway, she would eventually reach an open clearing with a lot of benches and a view of the Tokyo Skyline.

Nipping at her heels and chewing through the corpses of the dead hunters was an absolute swarm of Hellcats that reminded Ino more of swarms of giant man-eating insects chasing after the protagonist than they did fluffy little kittens. Ino bit back the bile as they viciously tore through chunks of meat and bone like they were tissue paper.

Sakura's distress signal was far gone now. All the way across to Odaiba's Aquacity. Ino just hoped that she was with someone who could help her. And hopefully far enough away that from another breeding ground of Hellcats. Unless of course she and Sasuke came across one. That…That would not be good. Especially if the one they found was bigger or being pumped with a mutagen on something like that.

And it was at that moment that the wall in front of her collapsed.

Standing in front of her and baring her disgusting teeth dripping with black ooze, was the mother Hellcat. It snarled at her, but Ino wasn't stopping for that. Slid underneath the belly of the Hellcat. Several meters ahead was a revolving door. Ino quickly rushed through it, slamming her body into the glass. The army of cats followed behind closely, with their monstrous mother stomping around, leaving giant paw prints all over the place.

If weren't for the fact that Yami could somehow make all the damage caused somehow disappear, then perhaps Ino would've been slightly worried about the damage that she caused. But alas, they weren't. And of course, there were those three words that Sasuke always said.

Not.

My.

Problem.

It didn't take long for Ino to start following Sasuke's lack morals. In fact, it was quite possibly the only reason that she survived this long. Of course, that didn't mean she felt good about it. Nor bad either. Just indifferent. Like always.

The Tokyo Skyline slowly appeared in front of her. Flickering lights and dazzling neon lights all over the goddamn place. If it weren't for the fact that she had lived in Tokyo for so long, Sakura would've been awestruck. Well…not really.

Ino was brought out of her reverie by the sound of several pillars being turned to dust underfoot. Or was it underpaw? Regardless, the giant Hellcat was right behind her. To Ino's immediate right was the waterfront and to her right was a wall. Ahead of her was a narrow path that offered absolutely no advantages to her at all.

With a sigh, the blonde sheathed her swords and burst out into a sprint, running out past the narrow path and out into the heart of Odaiba. The streets were mostly empty. If Ino remembered correctly, Sakura's tracker was all the way at Odaiba's Big Sight Convention Center. Off in the distance, Ino could see the Yurikamome Elevated Train Station. There was no way that Ino could let the fight get all the way to the train station. Even Yami wouldn't be able to stop anyone from noticing.

Or so Sasuke claimed.

After reaching an open enough space, Ino pivoted and faced the giant monster cat and an unlimited litter of children. There were at least fifty pairs of scarlet red eyes glaring at her. Their snarls filling the air in unison.

Ino drew her two swords and stood in a defensive stance. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Ino egged them on. The mother cat stopped growling and began to prowl along the edge of the circle that her children had formed around Ino. Immediately afterward, at least ten Hellcats charged at Ino all at once.

With a grin, Ino spun around. Several Hellcats flew off to the side, halfway cut into half. One of them hung onto Ino's back. Before it could do any damage, Ino rammed her back into a parked car, splattering it with guts and brain matter. Thrusting her bastard sword entirely through another Hellcat's mouth, Ino spun around and cut the throat of another.

"Gah!" Ino hissed as a set of uber sharp teeth raked across her back. Twirling her katana around, Ino thrust it behind her. Even more black blood spewed all over her face as a loud squeal rang out in the large clearing. The mother roared and _even more_ of her children surged forward.

Her swords were covered in sticky black blood as she sliced and diced through the ocean of Hellcats. Even though she had been swinging her swords almost nonstop, Ino could barely feel the fatigue. At least that was something good that Yami had done for them. Removing the lactic acid buildup in their arms and converting them into additional energy.

While Ino was wrecking her children, the mother Hellcat's eyes began to narrow and shifted into a darker shade of red. Almost a crimson blood color. Ino momentarily made eye contact. The mother's lips curled up into a snarl. Grimacing, Ino ducked underneath a leaping body and split it in half with her bastard sword and dug her sword into a snarling mouth and swung upward, splitting the head in two.

Her body was tingling towards the east. Towards Yurikamome. What the hell did that mean? Sakura and Sasuke were all the way in Odaiba's Aquacity. And last Ino checked Konohamaru was still in DiverCity. But then again, Ino wasn't paying all that much attention.

A screaming Hellcat flew right over her shoulder and crashed into a bloody parked car, smashing its window into pieces and getting shards embedded into its body. Piled up around the car body must've been at least two to three dozen lifeless corpses. And even still, there were more Hellcats lunging at her like maniacs than there were in the beginning.

However, it finally seemed like they were starting finally run out. "What the hell?" Ino muttered to herself, spinning around and vivisecting two Hellcats simultaneously. She eyed the Mother cat. "Is she getting smaller or some shit?"

And indeed it was.

She stopped getting smaller when there were only around ten or so of her children left. The mother cat was still gigantic. Around the size of an NBA Center or something like that. With a huff, Ino slashed her two swords horizontally like a pair of scissors, slicing off the head of the Mother cat's last kitten.

"GRRR." It growled. Wiping the sweat and blood off of her forehead. A dopey grin formed on Ino's face. The grin disappeared as the body of the Mother morphed into a more…human…like form.

Standing in place of the giant mockery of a cat, was a humanoid being covered in thick, black fur. It was a woman. If the breasts and the facial structure was anything to go by. Her arms and thighs were absolutely monstrous. Like she had injected every kind of steroid known to man. Her hair was thick and messy and reached all the way down to below her butt. Covering her torso was fur. Well, except for her nipples.

"Fuck."

That was the last thing Ino said for a couple of minutes as the Hellcat lunged at her so fast that even with her suit's enhanced vision, all Ino could see was a black blur, which admittedly is already hard to see in the darkness of midnight. And even with her enhanced reflexes, Ino couldn't move before the mother was already on her ass. The mother dug her monstrous forearm into Ino's stomach and threw her back into a wall. It promptly collapsed upon her.

Before she could even get up, the monster was already upon her. She picked Ino up and flung her deeper into Odaiba. Ino's body smashed through several high rise buildings before colliding into a turnstile from Yurikamome and sliding down. Her landing spot marked by a splotch of blood. Ino spat out blood onto the ground.

There weren't that many people around which was rather surprising, yet also made sense. It was rather late at night and at this time, most people would've been at home. Sleeping. Snugly. Wrapped in their blanket with nothing but sweet dreams.

Ino looked up in time to see the Hellcat drop in and ram her shoulder into Ino's. She drove the two of them through the turnstile and into a kiosk. "GAH!" The Monstrous Cat continued its rampage, driving through several walls. There was a train behind them if the loud screeching brake sound was any indication. Ino reached for her sword. Only to remember that she dropped her swords back in the clearing.

It was only when the monster slammed her into the train, tipping it over and ripping the train car cleaning from the rest of the train, did the Hellcat let go of Ino. And it quite literally tipped it over onto its side. If everyone inside was dead, Ino would not be surprised. She reached over and wiped the blood off of her mouth and picked herself up from the overturned train car.

Standing at the edge of the metro platform was the Hellcat. Civilians running around like headless chickens in a panic. The security was nowhere to be seen. Or they were until a tiny Hellcat came up and dropped a head of an officer at its mother's feet. Ino followed the trail of blood to a room by the stairs leading down to street level.

Technically Ino would have been able to take the Hellcat on with her bare hands. Her suit allowed for that much. But she wasn't sure that she would be able to even last half a minute against something that superhuman. Sasuke had done it before. But then again, Sasuke was a freak.

The tingling in her suit had disappeared.

"INO!"

Both Ino and the Mother cat turned to see Sakura stumble up the stairs with Sasuke right at her heels. Sakura looked like a mess. Her suit wasn't torn all over the place like Sasuke's was. Her face was covered in dirt and there was a large cut on her cheek. Her eyes bloodshot and her hands had sores all over them.

On the other hand, despite having the entire top half of his suit looking like it was burned off by acid, Sasuke's skin looked as flawless as ever with his only injury being a large cut on his chest. His hair was slightly disheveled. In his hands was his Nodachi. And just like her swords, his was covered in black blood. He shot her a look.

Without warning, the Mother Cat lunged at them. Sakura screamed whilst Sasuke raised his sword and dug his feet into the ground as the Mother cat only barely drove him backward. The Mother cat tilted its head in confusion.

With no hesitation, Sasuke pushed it back and swung his sword horizontally at the monster, his blade a blackish gray blur through the air. Whilst he kept the Mother cat's attention, Sakura ran out from behind Sasuke to Ino's side.

"Man, you look like shit." Ino grinned as Sakura pulled her over behind a pillar. And technically she wasn't wrong.

"Are you kidding me!?" Sakura screeched. "Ino you look like, and you literally were, thrown through several buildings! I'm surprised you aren't dead!"

"Eh, didn't I tell you? Lord Luck has the hots for me." Sakura rolled her eyes. "But anyways. Don't think I didn't see you drooling over Sasuke's abs over there." Immediately, Sakura's cheeks flushed pink.

"Shut up. He's a hunk. But he's the biggest asshole I've ever meet." Sakura responded. "I wanted to throttle him after only like five minutes. Not only is he the biggest jerk I've ever met. He's also the most narcissistic. Is it bad that I want to hurt someone this much?" For a moment Ino thought that Sakura was joking. And then she saw Sakura's face. Ino sighed.

"That doesn't matter. Right now, you need to channel that anger and use it to eliminate whatever that thing is." Ino said. There was a black blur flying towards them. Grabbing her best friend by the shoulders, Ino took cover against the pillar. Flying past them was Sasuke.

The Uchiha flipped in midair and stuck his sword into the wall of the other side of the metro platform. His sword bent a bit, but otherwise held up against the concrete walls and dispelled Sasuke's kinetic energy. The Mother Cat walked up to the edge of the platform the Ino and Sakura were on. She took a look at the two of them before dropping down onto the tracks.

"Sakura. Do you still have the Zephyr Gun?" The pinkette shook her head. "What do you mean? Did it run out of ammo? Because if so, then it overheated. It doesn't run out of ammo. Did you throw it away?"

"No, the….thing we were fighting snatched it from me and broke it in half."

"Shit," Ino muttered. "Well, fuck. We can't leave until everything is dead. And we can't kill anything if we don't have any weapons. Well, we can. But…it'll be difficult as fuck. And way too time-consuming. Fuck! Where the hell is Konohamaru!?" Ino punched the pillar beside her. Several long cracks appeared and the pillar began to crumble.

Across from them the fight between Sasuke and the Hellcat was growing more and more intense. How Sasuke could swing a sword that big around that fast was beyond Ino. Even with his suit enhanced body, it shouldn't have been possible.

Beside her, Sakura sighed. "Could things get any worse?"

"No. Sakura. Don't say that, don't you ever say that. Only bad thing's ever come out of-'"

BOOOM!

Then the wall to their collapsed and out came the tiny body of Konohamaru. Following him…was even more monstrous looking humanoid Hellcat. This time with horns and a golden sword for an arm. And Konohamaru looked…bad was too weak of a word to use. His left arm was limp against his body and his forehead was busted up, the blood streaming down his face, his suit torn up. Sticking out of his left leg was a piece of rebar.

Walking down the steps leading down to the streets was another Hellcat. Except this one was armored. The look on Sakura's face at the sight of it was beyond terror. It was like she had just seen death in human form. It shot a look at its two brethren and a smile broke out on his mouth.

" _Get them."_


	3. Uchiha Sasuke I

**UCHIHA SASUKE I**

* * *

There was a cut on his chest.

It ran from the bottom of his collar bone to just underneath his left pec. Sasuke looked at for just a split second before ducking underneath the swing of the Hellcat's fists. He pushed it away and sliced downwards at it. Sasuke cursed silently as the Matron Hellcat sidestepped and dashed towards him. It was fast. Faster than Sasuke could actually keep up. Nonetheless, Sasuke raised his Nodachi in anticipation and deflected the attack to the side. Keeping the whiplash under control Sasuke spun off to the side and left a clean slice on the Hellcat's body.

Sasuke acted quickly. Two more Hellcats had shown up and even with the help of Konohamaru and Ino, it would be a nightmare to deal with all three of them at the same time. He was good yes. But Sasuke wasn't _that_ good. At least not yet. It was possible that it could be done. But not without severe casualties. This trio consisting of himself, Ino and Konohamaru was the best team that he had in the three years that he had been doing this. And Sasuke would be very surprised if Yami was considerate enough to give him more teammates that weren't just dead weight.

So with that in mind, Sasuke lunged forward, and swung his Nodachi in a wide arc horizontally. It cut into the Hellcat's thick, almost leathery skin with ease. The Uchiha scion git his teeth and cleaved through the entire upper body of the alien. Even with all that done to it, the alien monstrosity grinned at Sasuke with black, rotten teeth as it reached out with its hand to grab his sword.

"Tch." Sasuke reached into the holster into his pocket. He hated having to use the Oberon Gun. They were insta-kill weapons that only Tier 1 monsters and aliens could survive. And Matron Hellcats were far from being Tier 1. They were on the bottom of Tier 2. Source? Himself. They were far from the most dangerous entities that Sasuke had dealt with. Of course, he hadn't fought a Hellcat, much less a fully grown one, in over…two and a half years? Regardless, Sasuke was rusty. But not stupid.

With a pull of the trigger, the monstrous humanoid cat alien exploded in a shower of black blood, rotten innards, flesh and hair. However the head was still intact. And as long as it was still together, the Hellcat would be able to regenerate. With a grunt, Sasuke swung his sword upwards, cleaving the head in half.

Across on the other platform, Konohamaru was struggling to keep himself out of harm's way whilst the two girls were running for their lives as the heavily armed and armoured Hellcat set its sights on them. And to top it all off, they had no weapon. Ino's had been left behind when she had been clothesline through several buildings and Sakura's broke. If only Sasuke hadn't been so careless.

Before the Hellcat with a sword for an arm could end Konohamaru's pitiful life, Sasuke leapt across to the other side of the train platform. He swung his sword at the Hellcat's torso and cut it in half. Twirling around, Sasuke dropped the Oberon Gun at Konohamaru's feet. Without any further ado, Sasuke charged at the leader of the Hellcat's. Or the one he assumed was.

Before Sasuke could move another step, the leader was upon him and smacked around to the side and into the platform wall. Konohamaru hid behind a broken down pillar. Sakura and Ino had dropped down onto the railway and were cowering behind the wreckage of the train. A chill went down Sasuke's spine as the remaining Hellcat laughed.

Or what it probably thought was a laugh.

Sasuke had heard many disturbing things in his life. The sound of people choking on their own blood as they got eaten alive by monsters. The sound of children crying out for their mothers as they were tossed into the mouth of a multitude of monsters.

This was up there.

Quickly prying himself from the wall Sasuke took some time to observe the being standing arrogantly in front of him. It was unlike the others before her. The other two were covered in hair and thin, built like a runner. This one, the leader, looked like a giant bodybuilder. Huge biceps, noticeable abs that doubled as armoured plates. Her neck was as thick as her head and her thighs were as large as its own head. She spread her arms and her gleaming golden armoured plates looked impenetrable.

" _You're not like the others."_

A chill ran down Sasuke's spine as the Hellcat spoke to him. Its voice was nothing like he expected. It was deep and baritone and sounded like an amalgamation of every male figure of authority in Sasuke's life. And that pissed him off more than anything. The Hellcat grinned toothily and spread its arms mockingly.

" _All the others are…weak and spineless. You are different. Stronger. Faster. More intelligent."_ Sasuke charged forward. He lifted his Nodachi up in the air and swung down at the Hellcat as hard as he could. The Hellcat took a step forward and blocked the swing with his arm and the grin on its face only grew. " _You humans. Even the slightest perceived slight at your person is more than enough to set you off. It's what makes your kind so interesting and amusing to watch."_

"And your kind will be dead soon if I have any say in it." Sasuke growled, pushing off and unleashing a barrage of swings and thrusts. "I'm the most dangerous Hunter in the world." _That I know of. "_ You think that you can scare me? I've faced Vampire and Demon lords before."

Again it laughed. " _Humanity is a crossroads and your kind doesn't even know it. I feel pity for your kind. To have only just reached enlightenment just at the end of their cycle in the universe. But, I don't feel sorry for you. You so called Hunters of Peace have destroyed my kind. You have destroyed our way of life, our habitats, and our children. The most I will ever feel for your kind is pity."_

It was Sasuke's turn to laugh. "Why would I need the pity of something that's about to be dead? I don't care what happened to you. It's not my job. My job," Sasuke dug his feet into the train platform and began to push the Hellcat back gradually. "Is to survive. And if I have to kill every single one your kind, children and all, I will do it."

" _Nothing I didn't already expect from a heartless human like you."_ The monster bit back, pushing back as well until Sasuke couldn't force him back any longer. The beast let out a low hum. " _It seems that we're at an impasse here. Your friends aren't holding up so well."_ A chuckle passed through it's maw as Sasuke strained his neck to look. Seeing an opportunity the Hellcat struck first.

Sasuke however, spun around and kicked it in the stomach. "Do you think I'll fall for something like that? I've seen enough people die because they were worrying about others." He pointed his Nodachi at the Hellcat.

" _You really are despicable. Even for the standards of your kind."_ It shot back at him as they clashed once more.

"I wouldn't say despicable. Selfish more like. I'm worth more alive than dead. And I can't exactly save the world if I'm truly six feet under. If it means sacrificing others so that I can live another day, then so be it." Sasuke replied ducking underneath a hammer fist. He let out a frustrated groan as his sword bounced off of the Hellcat's torso.

" _Then you shall be the first to die."_ Sasuke lifted his Nodachi and blocked the Hellcat's downward smash. The ground shattered underneath. The supports of the floating train station creaked and sounded like they were about to snap in half. The Hellcat laughed and began to push backwards. Sasuke dug his feet into the ground.

"Big talk coming from someone that's about to be dead." He replied and kicked the Hellcat in the side. Sasuke quickly looked for his companions for just a split second. He saw a lock of Ino's platinum blonde hair peeking out from a battered support pillar. He assumed that Sakura was hiding behind her and Konohamaru was nowhere to be seen. In front of him, the Hellcat lunged forward. The monster's claws dug into the floor as Sasuke sidestepped and swung his sword at the Hellcat's legs.

As soon as Sasuke's Nodachi made contact with, the Hellcat, spun around on the spot and swiped at Sasuke. The monster swiped at him with such force, that Sasuke could feel the wind ripple across his face and through his hair. He took a slight step back and began to slash back and forth at the Hellcat. At the same time, Sasuke saw a piece of blue cloth fluttering in the wind out of the corner of his eye. It was Konohamaru's scarf.

Sasuke jumped over to the top of the overturned train and kept the Matron at a distance. Meanwhile, Konohamaru dashed around and hid behind a fallen over vending machine. Reaching a hand into his utility belt, Sasuke grabbed a handful of smoke pellets. As the Hellcat charged at him, Sasuke threw the smoke down and under the cover of the smoke, made his way over to Konohamaru.

The brat looked terrible. His entire body was covered in a myriad of dust, blood, dirt and soot. His battle suit was ripped all over and the lower left pant sleeve was ripped entirely off. Hanging limp against Konohamaru's body was his arm as Sasuke could see a compound fracture right at his elbow. A long horizontal cut was present on Konohamaru's forehead and a small piece of rebar was in his leg. He looked at Sasuke.

"We don't have much time to plan things out." Sasuke said. "So listen closely alright? I'm going to lead that thing over to center of the metro platform and when I do, I want you to distract it for just a moment. Drop a pillar on its back or shoot in the leg or something. Just distract it. That'll be all I need to kill that monster and end this mission."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure you idiot." Sasuke spat out. Without another word, he turned around and scrambled to the center of the station. Shooting out of a thick cloud of smoke and aiming right for Sasuke's head was the Hellcat. Rolling to the side, Sasuke stuck his sword into the monster's gut and dragged it across the entire body. It made a large cut across the side and the monster bellowed. Sasuke quickly swung downwards and cut the monster's arm off and kicked it back against a wall.

Konohamaru fired a quick shot at the Hellcat. The projectile homed right into the monster's right leg causing it to explode into bits. As the leg began to regenerate, Sasuke was already upon it and thrust his sword into the monster's head. The monster swung at him wildly. For a good twenty seconds, Sasuke circled around the regenerating monster, dodging whilst striking at every possible opportunity.

With a loud growl, the Hellcat lunged and Sasuke dove to the side. He narrowly missed being cut in half. Quickly, Sasuke righted himself up and raised his sword. The sharp claws of the Matron clanged against his blade. The sound echoed throughout the abandoned station. Seeing an opening, Sasuke went on the offensive.

A slash at the shoulder. Several quick thrusts to the gut. A quick swing at the neck. Sasuke was slowly driving the monstrous humanoid cat backwards. For a split second, Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the many screens above the platform. Arrival times. A quick shot from Konohamaru sent the Matron into a stunned state. Whilst his opponent was dazed, Sasuke gazed up at the screens and looked for the fastest arriving train. _There!_

Dodging to the right, Sasuke kept himself at the distance. He need only distract the monster for another thirty seconds. Konohamaru lined up for a better shot. Hiding behind a few pillar with her gun raised was Ino. The Matron shook itself out of its stupor. With a roar, their battle resumed.

Sparks flew as Sasuke's sword scraped against the Matron's chest. It left a superficial scar that was already healing. Another slash left a long gash along the side. And a downward slash lopped off the creature's arm.

"Sasuke!" Ino shouted over the sound of her guns firing. Some of her shots bounced off of the Matron's thick plates and others landed in other wounds. "We only have two minutes left!" She reported back, glancing at the device on her wrist.

The Uchiha gave her a quick nod. He dodged a sloppy swing and spun around, slicing at the Hellcat's quads. He then swung his sword at the nape, cutting it open. Sasuke looked to the left and the right and saw a train quickly approaching. With a grunt, Sasuke dug his Nodachi into the neck of the Matron Hellcat and pushed until the head came off. As the monster began to regenerate, Konohamaru fired one last shot into the torso causing it to explode.

A moment of silence spread throughout the destroyed subway. Sakura and Ino peeked out of their hidey-holes and took a look at the slowly regenerating legs. Before Sakura could scream, Sasuke looked at her and put a finger against his mouth.

"Good job." He muttered and kicked the legs of the monster into the path of the braking train. "Don't just stand there. We need to move. We can't afford to be seen."

Konohamaru's leg had seemed to have healed and the girls came out of their hiding spots. Sakura let out a yelp as remains of the final Hellcat were crushed underneath the train. They quickly followed Sasuke onto the top of the train station.

For a moment, the four of them sat there in silence. Already, Yami had begun the process of teleporting them back to the gymnasium. A blue glow appeared around Konohamaru as his fingers slowly began to disappear.

Sasuke took a moment to look at himself. He was clad only in bottom half of his combat suit. The top half got torn off during his pursuit of the Hellcat horde. He was careless and let them rip his armour apart. That would not happen again. The two Uchigatana he had been using had shattered immediately against the armour of the Hellcat. He would have to be more careful next time. Yami would not be so generous the next mission.

Ino looked to be in high spirits despite her injured appearance. The band keeping her hair into a ponytail had been lost during the mission and her hair flowed freely down her back. It was dirty and there were several spots dotting with blood. Most of her suit was torn and ripped. The entire left sleeve had been ripped off and numerous cuts were present on her arm. A large patch was ripped off of the stomach and there formed a bruise. It was large and about the size of a bodybuilder's forearm. Sasuke noticed the small hole in her shoulder. Probably the result of rebar flying through as Ino was sent flying through several buildings.

Her friend, Sakura, on the other hand was just a little bit better. Parts of her suit were torn, but otherwise was intact. The girl's face was covered in dirt and debris. Part of her hair was covered in black blood. A result of blowing an entire Hellcat into smithereens point blank. Despite this, she had a small smile plastered on her face. The two friends were sharing a small laugh.

As he himself began to disappear, Sasuke took a look around. Already, Yami's influence could be seen. The buildings Ino was thrown through were already fully repaired and looked as if nothing had happened. Glancing down at the metro station, the derailed train was gone and presumably on it's to its next stop. All the damage that their battle had caused was gone.

There were many things that Sasuke had seen during his three years of doing battle. Be it vampire lords, minor demons and legendary mythical monsters and sometimes even aliens. But still, seeing Yami at work was the most unbelievable thing he had witnessed. Or rather, seeing the result of Yami's work. He had seen small towns get completely demolished. And always, at the end of the day, it would be as if nothing had happened. The buildings were untouched. The people had their memories wiped. Nothing had ever happened.

Sasuke closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was greeted by the sight of the Gymnasium in Daikanyama. He took a look around. Sitting in the corner closest to the exit was Konohamaru. A bored looked on his face. In the center of the room, Yami glowed bright red. Light streamed from a couple of windows and illuminated the tiny gym. Yami projected two beams of light. One pink and the other yellow.

Slowly, Sakura and Ino reformed side by side and at the same time.

"Woah!" Sakura said, looking down at herself and at Ino. She then took a look at Sasuke. "What the hell? You guys look untouched!"

A smile was on Ino's face. "That's the power of Yami for you. Now we have to wait. Yami has to debrief us before we can go." Sakura nodded and for a moment, silence washed over the entire room. The red light in the center of the gym grew even brighter.

 _Thy worthless worms have survived. It seems a rewards is in order. But first, to tally up the points._ A robotic sigh echoed throughout. _And to no one's surprise, Cheater over there got over a hundred points._ Konohamaru let out a grunt and glared at Sasuke. _Alright everyone, let's give Sasuke a hand for being so great! Taking away the bosses so that his teammates won't ever get any points, what a great guy! Isn't he so great!?_ Sasuke rolled his eyes

It wasn't his fault that everyone only ever go after the small fry. Perhaps they should learn how to steal kills. Sneak in at the last moment and get the finishing blow. That would certainly increase their point total. _Next up is, to my utmost surprise, Sasuke's Biggest Fan with over 50 points! And to think that I've only just ruined her life._ Yami said with a laugh. She projected all of their faces against a wall. Underneath their faces were their totals. Total kills, kill assists, and points. _And now, everyone congratulate Sakura for stealing the most kills!_ Sakura looked away from the projection.

It was true that Sasuke killed most of the monsters that got in their way. But he let her kill the first Matron that they saw. He left it barely alive and all Sakura had to do was point her Zephyr Gun at it and shoot. But Sasuke did wish that she was more useful. Well, since Sakura did survive, there was a chance that she could grow to be a serviceable hunter. Especially if she could actually listen to him. Unlike Konohamaru.

 _And both the Little Brat and Miss Piggy only got twenty five points. What a great point total. It makes one so jealous! You totally weren't just baggage that Sasuke had to carry around on his back. Hey, Sasuke, let me ask you this. Does your back hurt from having to carry this sorry lot?_ Yami's laugh always sent shivers down Sasuke's spine. Even after all these years. It was if she was trying to sound like what she thought humans sounded. _Now my lovely little hunters, what shall you do with these points? Will you upgrade your armour and get those new armoured plates? Or will you try your luck on the Weapons Gacha. Who knows? Best not to wait for all my stock will soon be sold out._

She projected on the wall two separate screens. One was for weapons. And the other was for armour. Unlike the armour however, where whatever you got were guaranteed to be better than what you had, the weapons "Gacha" as Yami called it, had a chance of getting you a worse weapon. Sasuke was content with his armour. But he definitely needed new weapons. The Titania Nodachi was one of the best weapons there was. Well, one of the best common ones. But Sasuke needed a long range weapon.

 _Oh don't go hoarding your points like that Miss Sakura! Here, since you're a newcomer I'll be generous and give you a free pull! With a guaranteed Ultra Rare Weapon! Is that enticing enough for you? Surely it is._ Sasuke rolled his eyes. He turned to look at the girl.

"Just do it. Otherwise you won't be of any use in the next mission." Sakura looked apprehensive. She looked towards Ino who nodded in confirmation.

"Alright, I'll do it."

 _Wise choice Cherry Blossom. You know, perhaps you should have waited for the Proto Excalibur rate-ups. Hehe._ Sakura shook her head and did her best to ignore the voice. Sasuke looked around and noticed that Konohamaru had already left. He shook his head. That brat had over a thousand points. More than enough for ten weapon summons. Then again, he no doubt had kept that Ultra Rare Sieglinde rapier. And that was all he needed.

A brilliant circle of light appeared a few meters away from Sakura. _Oooh, I wonder what weapon you'll get! Maybe you'll get a little rinky-dink dagger to shank people with! Or if you're lucky enough, you'll get Galatine or a Yew Bow. Oh, it's so exciting I can't wait!_ The outline of ten weapons began to form. Most of them were glowing blue. Common. And one of was glowing red. Ultra Rare.

As soon as the light disappeared everyone's eye were drawn to the spear sticking out of the ground. It was long. Over two meters at least. It was the colour of blood. Glowing runes ran along the side and it exuded an aura of death. _Ooh, Gae Bolg! Named after the legendary spear of Cu Chulainn! You've certainly pulled a great one there!_ Yami taunted. _Oh it should easy for a master of the spear like you to wield isn't that right?_

Sakura ignored her and went up to the spear and pulled it from the ground. She looked at it with reluctance. For a moment she stood there like a statue. Sasuke had to admit, Sakura did look kind of cute. But only the way a girl wearing a skin tight outfit holding a weapon could. Sasuke shook his head. He turned to his screen. To his right, Ino had already once again upgraded her armour. This time, increasing her the speed at which she can move. Not once had she spent any of her points on the Gacha.

"Don't worry about the other weapons." Sasuke told her. "I'll store it with the other ones here." Sakura nodded. But instead of immediately leaving, she stayed behind with Ino. "What are you waiting for?"

"I want to see what you get." Sakura smiled slightly. "You whale."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Whale? If that was the case Sasuke would have spent as much money as he could to pull Excalibur. But alas, that was not how it worked. He turned to screen. Projected on the screen were a multitude of weapons. Now, Sasuke could either waste ten points for a single try. Or he could use a hundred to get ten at once. His luck had never been that good though, so Sasuke wasn't exactly expecting anything.

 _Oh, you're gonna do a multi summon! What a great idea Sasuke!_ Yami's robotic voice took on a bit of emotion. _It's not like you only got a bunch of common weapons the last time you tried this. But who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and pull that ranged weapon you've been looking for. Perhaps you'll get Gandiva! Hah. It's only fitting for you oh Awarded Hero._

"Tch. Just do it already. We've wasted enough time as is."

 _Ufufufu. You're no fun Sasuke. Very well, one Multi Summon for you. Please do be salty. Let the salt flow through your veins and swallow you up in despair! Ufufufu._ Sasuke rolled his eyes. That familiar circle appeared. Then the circle did something that Sasuke had only seen happen once before. It turned from white, to red.

Stuck in the ground was not one, but two glowing red weapons. _What!? You…You cheated! You're a cheater. Like always!_ It was only the third time that Sasuke had heard Yami get so flustered. For once her monotone voice had some emotion in it. _Well hopefully it's one of the bad Ultra Rare weapons. It would only be fitting for you!_

He ignored her and moved forward past the glowing red mist that the weapons exuded. His eyes were drawn to a bow right in the center of the circle of weapons. It was a double curve bow with innumerable strings. Sasuke lost count after thirtieth string. One of the strings in particular caught his attention. Whilst the others were glowing silver, there was one that glowed white. Pure white. Sasuke lifted it up. It was heavy. Very heavy. As a test, he pulled on multiple strings. Multiple glowing silver arrows appeared.

"What the hell? Sasuke stop that! I can't see!" Ino called out, shielding herself from the intense light the strings had been emitting. This bow…There was no mistaking which bow this could be. An innumerable number of strings, double curved, extremely heavy, and a singular string that stood out above the rest. There was no doubting it. This was Gandiva. The Legendary bow of Arjuna. Or so Yami would claim.

The other glowing red weapon was stuck to the ground by its point. It was a western longsword. It had a golden hilt with a perfectly round diamond for the pommel. There were engravings on the hilt. One of them looked like a tooth. Whether it was human or not, Sasuke couldn't tell. Sasuke took a look around. He had summoned a Super Rare weapon as well. A Viviane Nodachi. To confirm his suspicions on the identity of the weapon, Sasuke grabbed the Nodachi and held it steady.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" Sakura asked, her eyes full with wonder at the sight of Gandiva. The Uchiha raised the sword and brought it down upon the Nodachi. And upon contact, the Nodachi shattered. The Longsword ripping through it like butter. So this was indeed the weapon he thought it was. Durandal. The sharpest sword in all existence.

 _Oh that's just not fair Sasuke! You know what this means right Sasuke!? You've used up all your luck! Just watch, next mission you will be the first casualty!_

"Such confidence you display. But I wonder if that will come true." Sasuke muttered to himself. Now that they had seen what Sasuke had gotten, Sakura and Ino left. Gae Bolg turning invisible in Sakura's hands. After they left, Sasuke cleaned up the gymnasium for the next mission. He felt tempted to ask Yami when that would be. But Sasuke knew better. He would not get an answer from Yami. At least not a straight or reliable one. He couldn't leave Gandiva here nor could he leave Durandal here. Unlike Gae Bolg, he couldn't make it invisible. Well, he could, but he'd only be able to do it to one or the other. But not both.

With a sigh, Sasuke walked out front. The Gymnasium was located in Daikanyama. And it was early morning. But there were still people around that could see what it was that he held in his hands. To remedy this, Sasuke raided the gym closet for a large gym bag. Actually, two large gym bags. He placed both legendary weapons within separate bags, put some clothes on over his suit and made way for his apartment in Yoyogi.

It was a gift from his brother. And still to this day Itachi paid for his rent. But that would change as soon as Sasuke graduated and found a good job. His parents had been pushing for him to become a politician like his father. Or at least do what Itachi did and become a lawyer. He had moved out at the suggestion of his cousin Obito. A slight frown formed on Sasuke's face. That was the last thing that Obito had said to him before he died. He had wanted Sasuke to be whatever he wanted.

Look where that got his cousin. Dead. Sasuke wondered if Obito met the same fate as he did. Serving a sadistic, omnipotent ball of light. It was certainly possible. But Sasuke wasn't too confident in his cousin's ability to survive something like this.

Sasuke caught a cab to Shibuya. It was early in the morning, so traffic hadn't reached its peak yet. The cab driver shot a bewildered look at the bag containing Gandiva as the car seemed to get much heavier. The Uchiha shot him a look and the driver didn't make too much of it.

He quickly went to his apartment and dropped the two legendary weapons off. He would back to do some tests on them later. But first he had someone to meet.

As soon as he left Shibuya Station, the building of Hikarie entered his view. It was multifaceted building. There was a large shopping mall. It was around eight floors if Sasuke remembered correctly. It also had a theater and with event spaces. There were even some museums within. As a kid Obito and his girlfriend Rin always insisted on bringing him along with them to the Skyscraper.

But that's not what Sasuke was here for. He wasn't there to reminisce on old times.

Standing in front of a KFC was a teen around Sasuke's age talking to a girl. "Naruto." Sasuke called out. Naruto turned around and gave Sasuke a smile. His hair was glistening with gel as his locks of hair stood out like spikes. Frankly, he looked like an anime character. Then again, so did Ino. And so did Sakura. Naruto's blue eyes and tan skin made his stand out from the rest. He looked like a foreigner as opposed to the son of the most famous politician in Japan.

"Are you Sasuke?" Hinata asked. She stood next to her long-time boyfriend and future husband. Sasuke looked at her and scowled. Everything about her set off his battle instincts. From her strained smile to the well-hidden insanity of her eyes. Her pale skin was caked with makeup. And he could see the outline of a gun handle within her bolero. And if Sasuke was right, then the three men in black suits around the area staring at them were her bodyguards. Sasuke doubted that she needed them.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry for my tardiness. I had important business to take care of. Now, can we get going? I have a job interview later on today and I would rather not have to go through rush hour traffic to get there." That was a lie. Sasuke had no intentions of getting a job. At least not yet. And maybe not ever. Especially not if Yami was involved. She was not one to share her toys.

"No problem. This won't take long." Naruto said. The three of them left Hikarie and began to make the short drive over to Yoyogi Park. Underneath his clothes, his black suit was almost unnoticeable. Like it had become a second skin. A shiver surged down Sasuke's spine as Hinata smiled that icy smile of hers. There was something off about that woman. And he wondered if Naruto knew it. Or if his childhood friend was just that dense.

It wasn't like Naruto was stupid. Naïve, yes. Stupid no. He was smart in the sense that he had the wisdom of experience. But this was a different matter. Hinata was the daughter of the Hyuga Corporation. A company that may or may not have ties with the Rakuzan Syndicate. The largest organized crime group in Japan. Even more than the Yakuza. There were rumours that Hinata's uncle was one the Rakuzan Syndicate's leaders or that he might even be _the_ leader.

Hyuga Hinata was not someone that Sasuke wanted to mess with. Not because she could kill him, oh no, she wouldn't be able to. But because doing so would paint a target on his family. Well it would have, if the Uchiha didn't already. Their families used to ties back when Sasuke's grandfather was still alive. But Sasuke's father cut off all ties and denounced the Hyuga family. And if that didn't paint a target on the Uchiha's back then this definitely wouldn't.

Sasuke silently cursed himself. Yesterday before the mission Naruto had called him. The moment he did so, Sasuke was suspicious. Naruto wasn't one to call or even text. He preferred to speak in person even if it meant travelling halfway across the city. So why would he be calling Sasuke now? As it turns out, his girlfriend had wanted to send Sasuke a message. Hinata wanted to have a meeting.

An Uchiha meeting with a Hyuga? Certainly that wouldn't end well. But it wasn't like they could kill Sasuke. If Yami could repair entire towns, she could do something like wipe the memories of anyone who saw him in action. But of course, where would the fun that be, she would say. And if the three black tailgating cars were any sign, then Sasuke didn't like where this was going. Why did he accept Hinata's offer again?

A sigh passed through his lips.

"We're here." Hinata said, exiting the car. As soon as Sasuke exited the car, he was greeted by the sight of three men in black suits. All of them armed with handguns. There was a fourth one behind him with a sword. Probably a katana. "Don't mind them. Father says they're for my protection. I find his lack of faith in me to be quite disheartening. But alas, I shall make do with what he has given me." A sickening smile was on her face as she looked back at Sasuke, her hands intertwined with Naruto's.

"Don't fall behind Sasuke." Naruto said, walking away with his girlfriend. Sasuke sighed and grunted as one of Hinata's bodyguards bumped shoulders with him as he passed by. The bodyguard shot him a look and flashed the blade of his katana. The Uchiha rolled his eyes and continued forward into the park. His phone buzzed. It was a message from Itachi.

 _Hey, meet me after your interview. We need to have a talk._

 _What about?_ He texted back. Itachi didn't respond. Yet anyways. With a sigh, Sasuke pocketed his phone and followed Naruto and Hinata's trail to a gazebo overlooking a small lake. Hinata sat down at the table within the gazebo and invited Sasuke to do the same. Her four guards were positioned not too far, but not too close either.

Looking warily at Hinata, Sasuke sat down. Naruto sat across from him. The two were whispering to each other underneath their breath. With a smile, Hinata turned to face Sasuke. Sasuke wanted nothing more than leave at that moment. The sly smile on Hinata's face spread whilst Naruto looked a little nervous.

"Now then. Do you know why I wanted to have a meeting Sasuke?" Hinata asked. She then chuckled at her own question. "Of course not. We've never even met before so why would you? But our families have ties with one another as well, do we not? Our grandfathers were once on the same side. But your father decided otherwise."

"Why am I here wasting my time?" Hinata's eye twitched a bit. "Listen, I don't care about your ties to my family. I don't care what connections we had in the past. And I don't even care what dirty practices your family has. Just leave me it out it. Trust me on this, I won't be any help to you."

Hinata laughed. "That's not what this is about. You see, you don't get a say in whether or not you have anything to do with this feud. Because guess what? This little family feud is no longer just that. Your father declared war on my family for their "criminal" acts. And by war I mean he condemned my uncle and proposed that my father be forced to sell the company."

"And what does that have to do with me?" Hinata glared at him. "It's not my fault your father's a scumbag. I don't care what happens to you or your family."

"Sasuke!" Naruto interrupted. "Hinata is innocent here. If her father sells the company everything they have will be gone. Their money, their reputation, maybe even their homes. " Sasuke had to laugh.

"Innocent. I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were blind. After all, you've done some dirty work for the Hyuga have you not Naruto?" The blonde froze. "I know that you'd do anything for your future wife. What you see in this crazy bitch I don't know. But for you sake, I'll humor you. What is it that you require of me?" Hinata glared at him.

"Okay. I want to talk to your father. And I need your help in that matter."

"Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do if you get to that point? Beg him not to oust your father from his company? Suck his dick to gain favour from him? You clearly seem like a person who doesn't care what happens to anyone else as long she gets what she wants." Hinata snarled at him. "I'm only telling it as I see it. And besides, your family has the backing of the Rakuzan Syndicate. It's not like my father can force yours to do anything more than just sell the company. Well…I suppose that the military could get involved."

"There's no way that the Rakuzan Syndicate can stand up to the full force of the military."

"I won't be too sure about that. Ask the Cartels." A growl escaped the girl's lips. "So is that all you wanted to ask me? Permission to see my father? What a joke. I'm out of here." Sasuke stood up. None of Hinata's bodyguards moved. They hadn't moved at all since the meeting began.

"Wait," Hinata called out. "Let's make a deal."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. "I'm listening." Whatever offer she was about to make Sasuke would reject immediately. Unless of course she made him an offer that Sasuke couldn't refuse. But he doubted that. There was nothing Hinata had that he wanted. But he would listen. For now.

"Here's what I'm proposing. If you can somehow convince your father to not declare war on my family, I will not only pay you as much money as you want, I will never make any contact with you ever again."

"Money? Listen, I have no need for money. That much you should know. But that last part is rather tempting to say the least. Okay, let's negotiate here. In exchange for not having our families go to war, you'll give me the most expensive car you own as well as ten million yen and we will never interact with one another ever again. How does that sound?"

"I'll pay you out of my own bank account. Ten million is chump change. And that car is as good as done." Hinata sighed. "So we have a deal?"

"Hm. Yes, I suppose so. I'd shake your shake if I wasn't in such a hurry. But I must go now. If you have any more questions have your little fox here ask me. And maybe I'll give you an answer."

As he passed by the bodyguards, Sasuke had to stifle a chuckle. They all had dumbfounded looks on their faces. No one had ever talked back to their mistress like that before. And anyone that did was as good dead most likely. Sasuke's mind went back to the text that Itachi sent him. No doubt it had something to do with what Hinata had just told him. Perhaps Itachi could explain the situation better than Hinata.

But first, he had some weapons to test.


End file.
